Different Circumstances
by Rhian Knives
Summary: Naruto is helped by a new local and an ANBU who have a young daughter. They quickly become fast friends. But what secrets does this family hide? Follow Naruto,as he grows from a young rebel, to an excellent ninja. Naruto/OC. Slight Naruto/Hinata. First story so all reviews are welcome.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

"Die you Daemon scum!" they screamed at him.

Running through buildings, around carts, dodging rocks, sticks and other projectiles flying near his head, was a four year old Naruto Uzumaki. His golden hair, dirtied from not bathing in so long was stuck to his forehead as sweat glistened on his face and ran down his chin. His bright sapphire blue eyes showed his obvious fear of the villagers chasing him, civilian and ninja alike. He just managed to barely escape an earth jutsu that was most likely meant to crush him and bury him alive.

'What the hell?' he thought. 'Aren't ninja supposed to help protect people? Why are they also attacking me?' he continued to run forward, not looking at where he was running since his attention was directed to the quickly approaching mob behind him. His distraction caused him to run into the legs of a long white haired woman. He grunted loudly as the force of the recoil had him falling to the ground. The woman turned around to see what had knocked into her. She looked down and her gaze fell upon a dirty little blond haired boy, who was rubbing his butt on which he had fallen. She bent to pick him up but to her surprise, he recoiled and hit her hand away.

"Don't touch me!" he screamed as he tried to scramble away from the woman. The pale haired woman blanched at his statement. 'Hurt him But why would I-'her thoughts were interrupted as the mob that was chasing the young Uzumaki finally caught up to him.

"Finally! You caught the daemon!" the self appointed leader of the mo gasped, quite out of breath for the boy had given him a very long chase. "Now hand him over, so we may punish him as we see fit." At this point, the other members of the mob began to grin and laugh in a sinister way. This shocked the woman greatly as she had never seen this cruel type of reaction shown to a child, no matter what the crime.

Standing protectively in front of Naruto she began to speak to the leader of the group. "What has the child done that is so heinous to warrant your hate towards him?"

"Judging from your accent ma'am you are not from around here, so you protect the daemon not knowing of his crimes. That thing is a monster! A daemon that has killed our friends and family!" he shouted as he pointed at the young boy, who at this point was stunned that somebody had defended him. So stunned he was that he remained seated on the ground behind his personal savior, hiding behind her legs. The mob agreed with their 'leader' and shouted in jovial agreement. A woman who had lost her husband and their only son in the Kyuubi attack screamed at the foreigner, "Hand him over so we can exact our revenge!"

"What is wrong with you people!" the woman cried. "Can't you see that this is just a young boy who has done nothing to you? Look at him! He doesn't even look like a hanyou, far less for a full blown rampaging murderous daemon. He can't even hurt you people!"

The villagers were shocked. How dare this woman, this…this FOREIGNER insult them like this. How could she defend that scum of the Earth, that MONSTER that killed their friends and loved ones. They came to the assumption that the daemon was controlling the mind of the foreigner, preying upon someone who didn't know his blood thirsty tendencies. The 'leader' decided upon himself to remove the 'daemon influence' from the woman. His pain from loss, and his fury at the boy flooded all ration thinking and common sense from his mind. I cannot let another innocent woman get killed by the daemon, he thought. "The daemon has controlled her thoughts!" he shouted at the group. "Let us cleanse this woman and destroy this daemon from our world, once and for all!" The group shouted in agreement. They raised their makeshift weapons and crude projectiles and started towards the woman and the boy.

Seeing that the villagers were truly blinded by their hate, she turned around and bent down to pick up Naruto. He began to struggle against her, but her grip remained strong as she held on to him. She began to run with the boy as the mob resumed their demented chase. Projectiles were thrown at them, some narrowly missing, others hitting their mark. The sharp rocks tore at the woman's clothing as she ran. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side as a particularly large piece of rock hit her in the head. Her footing lost, she tripped and fell to the ground in a huff, twisting sideways so that Naruto would not feel the impact of the ground. She felt a pain in her ankle; she had twisted it when she fell. The leader of the group was fast approaching. He reached her and a wicked expression crossed his face.

The woman looked defiantly at the man. Her hazel eyes began to glow with a soft white light. The leader made to hit her, but before the hit landed a man wearing all black and a white mask in the shape of a tiger snatched his hand out of the air. ANBU.

The new comer glared at the group, the killing intent rolling off of him in waves. A deep baritone voice came from behind the mask. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. The civilians, not accustomed to feeling this much malice directed at them muttered and trembled nervously. Some of them with weaker constitutions embarrassingly lost their lunches or even the hold on their bladders. The ANBU then focused his steely glare on the civilian leader whose wrist he held. "Now," he questioned, "what were you going to do with this?"

The man in question, slightly shaken from the killing intent directed at him responded "I was going to do the world a favor and rid it of this daemon once and for all! Look! It has even controlled the mind of this young woman. We must free her from her suffering at the hands of the daemon!" The ANBU stared incredulously at the man. 'Is this man serious? He has really lost his mind.' That however did not defer his anger at the mob. He made a quick signal. Suddenly, three more ANBU agents appeared next to him wearing similar masks.

"You people are going to be taken in to have a friendly chat with Ibiki. I'm sure he will have a lovely time getting to know you better. Now take them out of my sight. And as for you," he said as he turned to the leader of the now dispersed mob, "you are going to see Inochi Yamanaka for mental and emotional counseling." The three ANBU then directed the civilian mob to the Interrogation headquarters.

As they left, the Tiger ANBU turned towards the woman who was trying to get up, but favoring her left leg. He bent to help her regain her footing. The woman looked at the ANBU's hand that he offered her and smirked as she took it. "It's about time you got here Tiger-kun. Where the hell were you?"

Naruto looked at the woman in shock. Here she was, his own personal savior talking to this scary ANBU in a very casual, borderline rude manner. He just stared at this woman as if she was an angel sent down from Kami herself to help him on this day. The ANBU chuckled under his mask. "I am sorry Akemi-chan. We were preoccupied with other matters. But we made it here just in time. Do you want to go to the hospital to see about your ankle?"

Akemi sighed as she looked at the ANBU in the tiger mask. Even though his face was covered, she knew he was looking at her with a somewhat guilty expression. She knew he was going to worry unnecessarily about her twisted ankle. She took a quick look over her injuries and came to the conclusion that she did not require a visit to the hospital; they were only minor cuts and bruises even thought she was really dirty. . "No, I'll fix it at home." She replied. She then looked over to Naruto and crouched down to look at him. He flinched as she looked at him straight in his eyes.

"Hello," she said to him. "Don't cry now. The bad men have gone away. You're okay now." She reached out to wipe away his tears when he hit her hand away.

"I'm not crying!" he responded indignantly. "I'm a boy and boys don't cry!" To him, crying was not a thing for him to be doing. When he cried, the villagers laughed and hurt him more, so in his mind, it was something that should never be done. Well, when he can be seen anyway. Akemi and the ANBU then shared a quick glance at each other.

"I am Akemi Tsukino. And what is your name?" she asked.

He responded that he was Naruto Uzumaki. Akemi then asked him where his parents were. Naruto just looked at his feet and replied that he doesn't know, he grew up in the orphanage. She asked if they knew where he was and he responded guiltily that he normally runs away because they treat him badly. Akemi sighed and looked at the boy. It was painfully obvious that he was underfed and was poorly taken care of. His tanned skin had a variety of substance on it, including mud and dried blood. His clothes were mismatched and poorly fitting. They were also torn in various places. Akemi had made up her mind.

"Naruto? Would you like to come and have dinner with us?" she asked him. Naruto was in shock as no one ever wanted him around. But he was hungry as it is and didn't think twice as he eagerly nodded his consent. Besides, he thought, she saved me from the crazy villagers. If she wanted to hurt me she would have helped them beat me.

Akemi smiled at him and then turned to the ANBU who was still standing watch over her. "Tiger-kun," she whispered to him, "Go back and do your duty. We will see you at home." The ANBU looked at her as she started to walk away from him, hand in hand with Naruto. With a sigh, he jumped to the nearest rooftop as he set of to the Interrogation headquarters.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

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Akemi Tsukino and Naruto Uzumaki walked hand in hand down the street. Akemi was asking Naruto about things he liked to do, what were his favorite foods and what he did in his free time. She deliberately avoided questions about friends, family and his dislikes. From what little she had learnt from him and from what she had seen, those topics would hurt the boy further. They approached a moderately sized, two story house. It was baby blue in colour with a white door. The yard was not maintained well, but there were a few trees and plants that were struggling for survival. The fence was painted white but the paint was peeling off in various places.

"Well Naruto, this is where I live." said Akemi. "It's not great, but I recently moved here from my home village. I plan to fix up the place and plant some new flowers. Give it a nice homey feeling, no?" Naruto looked at Akemi and smiled without saying anything. He thought the house was fine just the way it is, much better than the orphanage. Instead of entering the gate however, Akemi continued walking towards the house next to it. Naruto was still focused on looking at the house and did not realize that she was not standing near him anymore until she called his name.

"Where are we going?" asked Naruto. "Don't you live there?" Akemi laughed at his puzzled expression as he ran up to meet her.

"Yes Naruto, I do live there, but there is someone I would like for you to meet. I am going to pick up my daughter from by her aunt."

"You have a daughter?" Naruto asked. Suddenly, Akemi was bombarded with questions about this 'mysterious' daughter that Akemi had. She just laughed off his questions and assured him that he will meet her soon enough. In a yard a few more houses down the street, a little white haired girl could be seen playing with a plump dark haired woman. The little girl was wearing a sundress that was probably once white but was so covered in dirt and mud that it was hard to tell. She was so busy playing in the flower beds that she didn't even notice the two new visitors until Akemi called out to the woman.

"Ay! Baa-chan! How are you doing?" Hearing he familiar voice of her mother, the little girl looked up excitedly towards the direction the voice came.

"Mommy!" The little girl screamed at Akemi. She quickly ran across the yard as fast as her little legs could carry her. She then proceeded to launch herself at her mother, nearly knocking the woman down. She was obviously delighted to see her mother as she kissed Akemi all over her entire face.

The woman simply chuckled at the sight before her. "I'm not that old you damn woman. Don't call me Grandma." The fondness in her voice was heard and hence the threat was not taken seriously. The woman then realized that Akemi was not alone. Behind her was a little boy, not looking older than five years, who was in desperate need of a bath and some food. He was hiding behind Akemi's legs, and looked afraid of the older woman.

"Oh?" she questioned Akemi. "And who is this young man here?" Akemi gave a brief explanation as to how she came to meet Naruto. Akemi's daughter looked at Naruto from her mother's arms. She then struggled to get down to his level, excited to see someone her age. Her aunt was fun but could not play for as long as her. She shakily approached Naruto who, with Akemi's encouragement came from hiding behind her legs. She watched him closely then broke into a toothy grin.

"Hi! My name is Riyeko! What's your name?"

Naruto just stared at the girl. She had shoulder length white hair like her mother's that shaped her round baby face. The thing that shocked him the most however, was her eyes which were a striking violet colour unlike her mother's which was a calming hazel. She was shorter than him by at least a head but she was looking up at him with that same toothy grin.

"My name's Naruto." He responded, gaining a little more confidence to speak to her. Riyeko was delighted that he answered her and launched herself into a complete outline of her young two year old life. Naruto listened silently with rapt attention. Before it got any later, Akemi decided it was time to return to their house to prepare dinner. She said goodbye to her sister-in-law and proceeded to walk with her daughter and her new friend to her home.

As they returned to the blue house, Akemi took a note of Naruto's appearance. He was scruffy and dirty from his encounter earlier that day. Her daughter's condition was not that much better so she decided that she would give them a bath. She directed them to Riyeko's bedroom to discard their clothes while she headed to draw a bath. Riyeko began to undress in front of Naruto, throwing her clothes in a basket with dirty clothes. She got her towel, but when she looked at Naruto, he was still dressed and looking at her strangely.

"Don't you want a bath Naruto? Mommy has this sweet soap that makes plenty bubbles. I also have a ducky and plenty toys that we could play with in the tub. We could play together!" she screamed. Naruto smiled lightly at her, not accustomed to being treated with kindness from another person. He began to undress as Akemi entered the room. She had brought a towel for Naruto and some new clothes since his were torn and dirty. She clapped her hands as she said, "Well come on kids! It's time for a bath!"

Riyeko screamed as usual and took off in a dash to the bathroom. Naruto looked at Akemi expectantly. She assured him that nothing was going to happen and that she would not hurt him. Satisfied with her assurance, he followed her to the bathroom.

The bathroom was a pale green room, with white cabinets and a huge tub that could easily fit the two children. Riyeko was already in the tub splashing around and making quite a mess. Naruto looked at Riyeko in the tub who seemed to be having lots of fun playing in the water. With a small nudge from Akemi, Naruto joined his new friend in the tub. Riyeko screamed with delight as Naruto entered and gave him one of her ducks to play with. Akemi let them splash in the water for a little while until she decided that it was time to give them their baths. She took some shampoo in her hands and proceeded to lather it in Riyeko's hair. Naruto looked at her in wonder, thinking that the shampoo smelled nice. He hoped that Akemi would also do that to him, as he never received that kind of individual attention since…well…ever. Akemi rinsed the lather from Riyeko's hair and turned towards Naruto to do the same.

Naruto looked at her with joy in his eyes, and he eagerly scooted forward so that Akemi may do the same for him. The attention she was showing to his head was heavenly and he began to relax further making contented noises as her fingers massaged his scalp. All too soon, she was finished and their bath was over. Naruto was seriously considering getting dirty again so that Akemi will bathe him again but decided against it. He knew that she wouldn't be too happy about that.

They went to the bedroom to change their clothes. Akemi had laid out a pair of black shorts and a red jersey with white stripes for Naruto. Riyeko had on a large oversized green tee shirt that came down pass her knees. They headed to the living room as they waited for Akemi to finish preparing dinner.

About an hour later, the man in the Tiger ANBU mask entered the house. 'Something smells delicious…' he thought as he took off his sandals at the door. Just as he took off his mask and placed it at his waist, he heard the light patter of footsteps. He looked up just in time to see his daughter stampeding down the hallway with a huge grin on her face.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" she repeated as he picked her up and threw her up in the air. Riyeko then burst into a fit of giggles, loving when her father did this to her.

"Daddy!" she continued, "I made a new friend today!" She began to tell him about Naruto but he entered the room himself, looking for where Riyeko had run off too. The ANBU looked at him and recognized him from being the boy from earlier. At the same time, Akemi entered the room to greet her husband. She approached him as he was looking intently at Naruto. She introduced her husband to Naruto as Katsuo. She also explained to him that he was the ANBU who rescued them earlier that day.

Naruto studied the man closely. He had dark hair and was quite tall, around six foot two. He had a slim build but his muscles could have been seen from his sleeveless ANBU vest. He had a serious expression on his face, but his eyes were the same colour as his daughter's. So that's where Riyeko gets it from' thought Naruto. Akemi announced that dinner was ready. They then left for the dining room table to partake in the meal Akemi had made them.

At the same time in the Hokage Tower

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk pondering the situation he was in. The manager of the orphanage had reported that Naruto Uzumaki had not returned to the orphanage that evening and was missing. He thought that the manager said this with a little too much glee for his liking. He held her responsible for his disappearance and had her arrested for negligence. She screamed in protest but the Hokage was not having any of that gross insubordination on his watch. He had the woman escorted out of his office by some chunin ninja.

However, that left the orphanage without a manager. Also, it meant that he had no idea where Naruto was. He heard of the civilians that were arrested earlier that day, and about the woman who had protected Naruto. He felt pangs of shame and embarrassment. Naruto had to be protected from the villagers by a foreigner, who had no idea of why he was being chased in the first place. He felt as though he had failed the fourth Hokage, in letting the situation get so out of hand. He must be rolling in his grave, thought Sarutobi, as he shuffled some paperwork that was beginning to pile up on his desk. He was thinking about the current situation more, when it hit him. He slowly took off his robes and his hat ant told his secretary that he was going for a walk.

Back at the Tsukino household

Naruto and Riyeko had finished eating dinner and were playing in the living room. Riyeko's parents sat on the couch holding each other when they heard a knock on the door. Katsou got up to answer the door, wondering who would it be at this time of evening. He opened the door and his eyes opened in shock to who was standing before him.

"Hokage-sama!" he greeted. "Good evening. Please come in." he gestured for the Hokage to enter his home. The elderly Hokage smiled and followed Katsou into his home. They approached the living room to see Akemi sitting on the couch, lovingly looking at her daughter and her friend play on the couch. She looked up when she heard her husband clear his throat. Her eyes opened with surprise when she saw the guest who was standing next to her husband, looking at the two children playing.

"Hokage-sama! Good evening!" she said as she stood to offer him some tea. Hiruzen declined the offer as he continued to watch the children playing. Riyeko then looked up to see the elderly man looking down at her and her new friend. She stood up and looked at him, a curious expression on her face. Naruto, however, was quite excited to see this man and he showed his elation as he stood up and ran to the Hokage.

"Grandpa!" he exclaimed as his 'grandpa bent down to ruffle his hair. "What are you doing here?"

The other adults looked at Naruto in surprise as they looked at each other and wondered the same thing. 'This child is familiar with the Hokage?' The Hokage in mention was telling Naruto that he came looking for him. Riyeko, who was still looking at the Hokage, walked across to her mother and asked, "Mommy, isn't that the man on the mountain?" Her mother looked at her and smiled as she picked her daughter up. She then turned to Hiruzen and asked, "Hokage-sama. What has brought you to our humble abode on this fine evening?"

Hiruzen looked at Akemi and studied her closely. Long white hair that flowed to the middle of her back, a small heart shaped face that held a pair of bright hazel eyes that shone with fire, already a mother, looks like she is able to handle children, thought Hiruzen.

"I have come here with a proposition for you Mrs. Akemi, which I would like to discuss with you and your husband. It involves young Naruto here." Naruto looked up at Hiruzen, shocked that the old man would speak to the nice family about him. He feared that the old man would make him go away from the family that he was beginning to like.

"Of course Hokage-sama" said Katsou as he led the Hokage and his family to their modest sitting area.

"What would you like to speak with us about?" he asked.

"I know that you have brought your wife and child from the Village Hidden in the Light. And as we have discussed previously, that she would not become one of my shinobi. I have a different idea however. I would like for her to be the manager of the Children's Orphanage in which young Naruto here resides. I have been informed of…recent events and I have decided that the previous manager was not…well suited for the job. I have offered this job to your wife for I have heard from the reports given, that she is a strong woman, and that she will be able to handle managing the orphanage, albeit permanently, or until I find a more suitable arrangement. While you and your wife discuss this proposition, I will draw up a contract for this agreement and you ware free to contact me with if you would like to discuss this proposition further."

The family just stared at the Hokage in shock. They simple did not see that one coming. After a few moments silence, Katsou looked at his wife who nodded and then spoke to the Hokage, "We shall think about this proposition, Hokage-sama. Is there a specific time that a decision has to be made?"

Hiruzen closed his eyes in thought. "Well, the sooner the better. I cannot leave the orphanage without a manager for too long. It is in a condition as it already is" he sighed.

"Tomorrow we will come to a decision," said Akemi interrupting the Hokage's train of thought. "However, I have one question to ask." Her hazel eyes burned into the Hokage's as she looked at him with a stare that could melt steel.

"Whatever you want, Akemi-san," Replied Hiruzen.

"I would like for Naruto-kun so stay with us for the night, as I fear what would happen to him if he goes back home this evening. I'm sure my daughter would also appreciate that." She glanced at her daughter who looked up at her with a dazzling smile. She jumped off her mother's lap and walked towards the elderly Hokage. She looked at him for a moment and then asked, "How did they put your face in a mountain?"

Hiruzen, shocked at the child's question laughed heartily at the question he was asked. "Well little girl," he said when he settled down, "I became a very powerful man because I wanted to protect the things and people love."

Riyeko, satisfied with his answer, simply looked at Naruto and screamed "You're staying over! Sleepover!" Naruto just looked at her with a smile on his face, as he too was excited; he just had an easier time hiding it. The adults just chuckled at the sight of Riyeko dragging Naruto by his hand to her room to get ready for their 'sleepover'. The Hokage then got up to leave and Riyeko's parents showed him to the door.

As they re-entered the house, they could hear their daughter's energetic screaming telling Naruto to come and look at something that is 'so cool' and 'awesome'. the parents looked at each other with the same thought, this is going to be a long night.

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Thanks for reading. All reviews, comments, etc. are welcomed.


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